Witch Hunt
by swiftfox89
Summary: Rewrite of my previous story. Harry, Ron and Hermione are stranded in Hoenn during their hunt for the Horcruxes. There they run into a psychic trainer just starting her own adventure. Can they get back to stop Voldemort? Meanwhile, strange activity in the region attracts the attention of the International Police. Rated "T." Some chapters may go higher.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to the world

Okay, here we are again. The beginning is similar to the original, but the differences will become apparent quickly. Let's get to it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own characters.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Welcome to the world. It's a very unusual place.**

Stephanie let out a soft, frustrated sigh. She had woken up earlier than she wanted to, again. She was still feeling the excitement from the start of her journey in Hoenn even though a week had already passed. The anxiety of having to stay the night in Petalburg woods didn't help, either.

She opened one of her eyes and slightly tilted he head upward. There was no light shining into the tent. The sun hadn't even risen yet. She could still get a little more rest. She settled back in.

Unfortunately, her small movements were enough to catch the attention of her tent's other occupant.

 _Oh no,_ she thought to herself. _Maybe if I ignore her, she won't bother me_.

But it was not to be. Stephanie felt her face being licked. She had to give in.

"Alright, Kuro! You win!"

She bolted upright and pulled Kuro, her Eevee, into a hug.

"And good morning to you, too!"

She released Kuro and took a glance at her watch. 4:50 AM it read. Not too far off from sunrise. She could definitely start moving. Besides, her guards would probably appreciate the early break.

She quickly dressed herself in a tank top and shorts. That had become her regular attire since arriving in the region. This kind of intense summer heat was not something she was accustomed to in Unova, and she had to dress down to cope with it. That was not a problem for her, though. She kept herself fit and enjoyed showing that off.

"Shall we check on the others?" she said to Kuro once she was finished.

Stephanie poked her head outside the tent to greet the other two members of her team. An Emolga planted itself on her face.

"Happy to see me, are you, Arrow?" She said as she pulled him off. Arrow gave a delighted chirp in response.

"Wait," Stephanie felt a sense of panic as she looked around. "Where's Lynx?"

" _Emol!"_ Arrow scurried around to the right side of the tent as Stephanie followed him.

She found Lynx leaning against the tent, sound asleep.

" _Purr. Espurr,"_ Lynx muttered.

While she may have been enjoying her slumber, her master was not pleased.

"Sleeping on the job," Stephanie said. "And here of all places."

She moved to wake Lynx up, but before she could…

" _Vee_!"

Kuro had decided to do it herself, and Tackled the sleeping Espurr, much to Stephanie's dismay.

Not pleased about being disturbed, Lynx knocked Kuro back with a blast of psychic energy. She unsheathed her claws while Kuro prepared a Shadow Ball.

"Oh, not good," Stephanie muttered. "Arrow!"

" _Emol!"_

Arrow jumped in between Kuro and Lynx, holding up his arms like a boxing referee. After a few seconds, the two backed down. With obvious reluctance.

 _Listen, you two,_ Stephanie said to them telepathically. She wanted to minimize the noise. She couldn't sense any strong Pokemon nearby, but it was still early enough in the morning that nocturnal Dark-types could still be active. That was attention she didn't need right now.

 _It's been three months. Neither of you are going anywhere, so learn to live together already!_

That was it. There wasn't much else she could say at this point. Kuro and Lynx's rivalry had never been pleasant, but now it was just tedious.

Lynx was supposed to be Stephanie's first Pokemon. Her parents had gone on a month-long vacation to Kalos just after she obtained her trainer's license. They told her they would bring back a surprise for her, which she knew would be a Pokemon. However, her impatience got the better of her, and she made the short trip from Nimbasa City to Castelia Park, where she captured Kuro two weeks before her parents returned home with Lynx.

Being Stephanie's first Pokemon seemed to fill Kuro with a sense of arrogance, and he and Lynx regarded each other as competition for Stephanie's affection rather than teammates. Stephanie had tried every remedy she could think of. She thought she could ingrained the team concept in them after she caught Arrow. That didn't work. She used both as her walking Pokemon. That didn't work. She used them in double battles since she arrived in the region. They kept attacking each other, causing her much embarrassment.

Still, she was determined to make things work between them. They couldn't stay mad at each other forever, right?

 _This must be what a love triangle feels like. Great plot device for a novel, but a pain to live through._

"Now that we've got that behind us," she said. "Let's get moving."

She retrieved her backpack from the tent, took a Poke Ball from it and tossed the ball at the tent. The Poke Ball captured the tent – along with all its contents – just like it would a Pokemon. It was a convenient trick Stephanie had learned right before she left for Hoenn. It allowed her to save space in her backpack for other things and lightened her carrying load considerably.

"Arrow, I think you've earned yourself a rest," she said, and recalled Arrow into his Poke Ball. "Alright, let's get moving."

" _Vee?"_

" _Purr?"_

Kuro and Lynx seemed surprised they both were left out.

"I'm going to make this work with you two," Stephanie told them. "That's going to happen even if it kills me. Now let's move it before it gets too hot."

* * *

"I can't go on."

It took only a few hours before the heat got to Stephanie. She dropped her backpack and collapsed against the tree. She needed a break.

" _Eevee?"_

"I'm fine Kuro, really. I just need to rest for a bit."

Kuro seemed satisfied with her answer and scurried away. Stephanie's gaze followed Kuro's path. She saw him and Lynx exploring around another tree nearby.

 _That's good. They're not fighting…yet._

She checked her map. It looked like she was almost out of the woods. She could afford an extended rest. She didn't want to spend another night there, not in a place where Bug-type Pokemon were common and Dark-types could also be present.

She started to doze off, but was jostled awake a few minutes later. Kuro and Lynx were on opposite sides of her, and they both looked worried. She saw why when she looked up.

A Murkrow had landed close to where they had been roaming.

Stephanie felt uneasy. This was what she had hoped to avoid. She did her best to stay still, not wanting to catch its attention. She then noticed something glittering in the sunlight in the Murkrow's beak.

 _It's got something. I can't see what it is from here, though._

Her first instinct was to let it go. Arrow was her only Pokemon that could handle the Murkrow, and he was probably fast asleep inside his Poke Ball. He'd be in no condition to fight. Waiting for it to leave was the sensible thing to do.

However, something was pulling her the other way. She felt an overwhelming curiosity for whatever it was the Murkrow possessed. It seemed to be…calling to her.

She gave in.

 _Lynx,_ Stephanie shot a telepathic message to her Espurr. _Wait for the right moment, then sneak up on it and attack it with Covet. Then bring the item to me._

Lynx slowly crept toward the Murkrow, which wasn't giving her much attention. It turned its back to her.

 _Now,_ Stephanie commanded. _Go for it!_

Lynx sprang into action. She sprinted towards the Murkrow and slammed into it before it could react. The object it had been holding shot up into the air and came down on Lynx's waiting paw.

The Restraint Pokemon happily skipped back to its trainer.

As Lynx approached Stephanie, she got a better look at what the Murkrow had been carrying: an oval shaped locket with an "S" inscribed on it.

"Good girl," she commended Lynx as the Espurr handed over the locket.

Stephanie recoiled when she touched it.

"Huh? What the…"

It felt…evil.

That was a strange way to describe it, but Stephanie could sense something sinister about the locket. It made her uncomfortable.

 _The Murkrow can keep it,_ she said to herself. She stood up and prepared to toss the locket away, but…

 _Where'd it go?_

Something suddenly slammed into her from above and knocked her on her on the ground. She saw what it was when she got back on her feet. The Murkrow had dived bombed her, and was circling back for another run. It let out a loud, angry squawk.

 _It just wants the locket back. Well, it can have it._

She chucked the locket to the side, or at least she tried to. She felt a tightness near her hand. The locket's chain had wrapped around her wrist.

She struggled to get it off, but it seemed to resist her efforts as if it had a life of its own.

Stephanie ducked just in time to avoid another dive bomb attempt from the Murkrow. Instead of attacking again right away, it started to glow.

 _Great. It knows Sky Attack. I can't outrun it. I'll have to teleport._

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on another part of the woods.

Nothing happened. The stress was too much for her. She couldn't concentrate.

She heard another squawk from the Murkrow and braced herself for the impact.

It never came.

Instead, Stephanie heard some type of collision, followed by a pained cry from the Murkrow and then a crash.

* * *

Ron was angry. Very angry. His fight with Harry was the only thing occupying his mind as he stormed out of the tent and into the rain.

 _Enough about that,_ he thought. _Time to go home._

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the Burrow. He would know his family was OK once he Apparated.

Nothing happened.

This was strange. He had his destination in mind and was certainly determined to get there. He couldn't be out of range.

Then he realized it was no longer raining. He opened his eyes, and…

Not only was there no rain, it was daytime and significantly warmer. And he was in a forested. How had he gotten here?

He turned around to find his answer.

A large black hole was floating in midair. A thin golden ring outlined it.

"It must have been right outside the tent,"

He had obviously walked through the ring without realizing it and ended up here, wherever "here" was.

A shuttering sound snapped his focus. He looked to his left and saw a camera strapped to a nearby tree. This must have been in Muggle territory, but that did not matter to him right now. He had to get back.

That seemed easy enough. He simply had to walk into the ring again, and he'd be right back at the campsite.

But before he could take a step, a large black bird emerged from the void. Ron had never seen anything like it. The feathers on top its head were arranged like a witch's hat and its tail feathers looked like the end of a broom.

What really caught Ron's eye was that the bird was carrying Salazar Slytherin's locket in its beak.

Ron carefully drew his wand so not to startle the bird. He just had to stun it and take the Horcrux back. Easy enough. He took aim at the bird.

" _Stupefy!"_

He fired a stunning spell and landed a direct hit.

The bird was unaffected.

Ron could only stare in disbelief. That must have been a fluke; he'd try again.

Before he could, however, the bird took off and flew by him.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Get back here!"

He ran after it. He tried more stunners, but kept getting the same result. The bird squawked back at him, almost tauntingly. His heart sank when the bird flew above the trees. He had lost it.

Ron did the only thing he could think of: he kept running. There wasn't much of a chance, but maybe he could track down the bird if it landed on the ground.

But he began to lose hope after several minutes of nothing. He had to stop to catch his breath.

Ron felt powerless. He had no way to find the bird now. And if he couldn't find the bird, he couldn't find the Horcrux, which meant they had no chance of defeating…he couldn't even bring himself to think the name.

" _Vee!"_

A high-pitched voice broke him out of his thoughts. He felt something tug at his pants leg. He looked down to see a brown dog…or cat…or fox…thing.

" _Vee! Eevee!"_ it cried. Was it trying to get his attention? It seemed desperate about something.

"Er, sorry," he said. "I don't have time for…"

He was cut off by a loud squawk.

" _Vee!"_

It was all Ron had to go on.

"Lead the way," he said to the dog-cat-fox-whatever.

" _Eevee!"_

It sprinted away with Ron in pursuit.

The strange animal led him to a clearing a short distance away. He arrived just in time to see the bird dive at a girl, who just happened to be carrying the Horcrux.

The bird's attack missed, and once it elevated itself again, it started glowing.

Ron tried to think quickly. Magic hadn't worked earlier, so he needed something else. He scanned the area and saw a medium sized rock next to a backpack he assumed belonged to the girl

It clicked immediately. That would work.

Ron cast a non-verbal Levitation Spell on the rock, lifting it off the ground.

And right into the bird's path as it began its dive.

There was no time to avoid it. The bird hit the rock, spun out of control and crashed onto the ground and did not get up.

" _Vee!"_ the foxlike creature cried almost delightedly and ran over to the girl.

"Huh? W-What happened?"

The girl must have had her eyes closed. She turned around to notice Ron.

"What's going on," she asked. "Where's the Murkrow?"

"Murkrow?" Ron said, confused. "You mean this thing?"

He pointed at the unconscious bird.

"Yeah," she said. "How'd you do that? And _that?_ "

Ron had left the rock floating in the air. He wasn't sure how to answer.

"Are you a psychic?" the girl asked.

"No, I'm a wizard." Ron answered before he could stop himself. He was caught off guard by the question.

"Wizard? So you did that with magic? And the stick is your wand?"

"Er, yeah."

She didn't seem bothered or surprised, much to Ron's bewilderment.

"That's so cool! You're almost like a Delphox."

Ron didn't know what to say as he had no idea what a "Delphox" was. He decided to turn the conversation to the reason he was there in the first place.

"Hey, about that locket…"

"Is it yours? Here, you can have it."

She tossed it over to him.

"Great. _Now_ it comes off."

"Thanks a lot," Ron said.

"Thank _you_ for bailing me out, uh…sorry. We haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Stephanie Glass."

"Ron Weasley."

"Thanks so much Ron," Stephanie said. "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here to bail me out."

"Where is 'here,' exactly?" Ron asked.

"We're in Petalburg Woods," Stephanie answered. She was clearly confused.

"Where?"

"Petalburg Woods," Stephanie repeated, but saw Ron still didn't understand. "You're in Petalburg Woods, north of Petalburg City and south of Rustboro City in the Hoenn region. Does that help?"

"No, it doesn't."

Ron was still confused. Stephanie sighed and walked over to him. She placed her hand on his forehead.

"I'll make this easy," she said. "Just _think_ everything I need to know."

Ron did as told, thinking of everything he had been through the last few years with Harry and Hermione over the years.

Stephanie took her hand off him after a few minutes.

"Whoa," she said. "That's some heavy stuff. I can see why you'd have a hard time explaining that."

Before Ron could say anything, a familiar voice cut him off.

"Ron?"

It was Harry.

"How about that," Stephanie said. "Looks like we have a reunion incoming."

* * *

And the first chapter is in the books. Hope you liked it.

Poor Ron never really got to do much in the books, at least compared to what Harry and Hermione accomplished, so he gets an early moment of glory here.

Those who read the original version probably noticed a big difference in the rewrite. The HP characters can now use magic in Pokeworld. I realized taking away their powers would have limited their role, and that's a bad idea when the spotlight is supposed to be on them half the time.

Just so there's no confusion, I'm not going to put a limit on the number of moves the Pokemon can know at a time because it doesn't make sense outside of the games. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to be pulling off ex machina moments left and right like you would see in the Pokemon anime (so you won't be seeing Stephanie's Emolga using powerful moves like Hyper Beam or Giga Impact this early on).

Finally, since there's usually a story behind a name, here are a few notes about the nicknames I chose for the Pokemon.

Lynx - Ancient European and North American cultures associated the lynx with psychic abilities.

Arrow - as in the arrow flying squirrel species.

I'll let you figure Kuro out on your own, if you don't already know. It could be a hint, or maybe it's not...

See you next time!


	2. Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get out of

I planned on releasing this chapter Saturday, but my schedule for the weekend is really jammed up. So you all get a treat.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get out of**

The surprises kept coming for Harry. He and Hermione had followed the Horcrux stealing bird through the strange ring, ended up in a faraway place and found Ron accompanied by a girl and more unusual animals.

Most importantly, though, Ron had recovered the Horcrux.

"You got it back," Harry said. "How?"

"Lynx here stole the locket from the Murkrow," the girl answered while pointing to the gray catlike animal.

"It attacked me and tried to get it back, but Ron came to my rescue."

She gestured behind her. The bird was on the ground unconscious, and there was a rock floating in the air. Ron must have used the Levitation Spell to knock the bird out.

"I really can't thank you enough," she said to Ron. "If you hadn't been around, well, I don't know what would've happened, but it wasn't going to be good."

She turned her attention back to Harry and Hermione.

"I'm Stephanie Glass, by the way," she said. "I read Ron's mind right before you showed up, so I know about your deal, and – is something wrong?"

Harry was initially confused, but a glance over at Hermione cleared it up. She was glaring daggers at Stephanie. Hermione and Ron had just had an explosive fight, and found him with another girl on their next meeting. That could definitely cause a misunderstanding.

"Hermione, I think you've got the wrong idea," Harry said. He wanted to defuse this as quickly as possible.

"Oh!" Stephanie seemed to have caught on. "You think – don't worry, we're not…"

Hermione's expression didn't change. She was not convinced.

"Look," Harry said. "We've got what we need. Let's get back now."

"Yes," Stephanie said with obvious relief. "Good idea!"

"Hermione, you remember the way?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, not saying anything. She turned to lead the way. Harry started to follow her.

"I have to get going myself," Stephanie said. "It was, uh, nice meeting you, even if it was just for a moment. Thanks again for helping me out, Ron."

"Hey," Ron started. Harry was afraid of what was coming next.

"Maybe you should come with us?"

Hermione stopped in her tracks.

 _Why, Ron?_ Harry thought. _Why?_

"I don't think," Harry began, but Ron cut him off and pointed back at the bird.

"What if we run into something else on the way back," he said. "Stephanie knows this place. She could probably help us out if that happens."

Ron had a point. If they ran into any more magically immune creatures, it would be nice to have a helping hand.

"Fine," Hermione said. She was probably thinking the same thing. "Let's get going."

* * *

The next few minutes passed in uncomfortable silence. Hermione was too angry to say anything, and Harry guessed Ron and Stephanie were too frightened.

Finally, Harry got sick of it.

"Hey, Stephanie," he said. "What did you say that bird was called?"

"Oh!" She perked up.

"It's a Murkrow, a species of Pokemon," she said. "I guess you could say they're to me what magical creatures are in your world."

"Our world?" Harry asked. "You mean, this is…"

"An alternate dimension, probably," Stephanie answered. "It's a theory that gets thrown around a lot in my home region, so it's not _too_ much of a shock for me."

"Right, okay," Harry said. He did not want to put too much effort into making sense of that, so he pressed on with his original question.

"Why do you think it stole the locket?"

"Murkrow love shiny objects," Stephanie answered. "So much that they'll fight people and other Pokemon for possession of them. Now I have a question for you."

"What's that?"

"When the Murkrow attacked me, I tried to throw the locket away. But it wouldn't let me."

"What do you mean?"

"The chain wrapped around my wrist. I couldn't pull it off."

"Horcruxes have defensive mechanisms," Hermione spoke up, to Harry's surprise. The conversation seemed to have snapped her out of her anger. For the moment at least.

"But," she continued thoughtfully. "For its defenses to activate, that would probably mean it was near something that could destroy it. And that might mean…"

Hermione didn't finish, and Harry saw why.

They had returned to the area they had first arrived through the ring. There was one problem.

"It's gone."

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asked. "Maybe this is just the wrong spot."

She heard a shuttering noise and looked around.

"This is definitely it," Hermione said, pointing at something on a nearby tree branch. "I remember seeing that when we first got here."

Stephanie got a closer look. It was a camera trap, probably for research purposes. The odds of one being in an identical position in another identical place seemed slim.

"So, what do we do?" she heard Ron ask.

Stephanie then realized everyone was looking at her.

 _Oh no._

"I…don't know," was all she could manage to say at first. "We're in Hoenn, and I'm from Unova. That's far, far away from here. I'm not in a much different boat than you are."

Then something clicked.

"Hold on," she said. "This has happened before."

"Happened before?" Hermione asked.

"Years ago, there were stories of rings like the one you saw popping up all over the region," Stephanie said. "So there may be more of them scattered around."

"That's a little encouraging," Harry said. "But how do we find them?"

That was a good question. What could Stephanie do to help them? Was she just going to drag them around Hoenn and hope they ran into another ring?

Well, there was one other option. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try. She activated the call feature on her Xtransceiver.

There was no answer, but she could leave a message.

"Hey, Marcus, it's me," she said. "I'm almost to Rustboro. Could you meet up with me at the Pokemon Center? I'm going to need your help with something."

She hung up and turned her attention back to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"What was that?" Ron asked.

"One of my friends is also in the region," Stephanie said. "He might be able to help you out."

"No, I mean the watch."

"Watch? You mean my Xtransceiver?"

"X-what?"

Hermione laughed.

"Sorry," she said. "The magic community is behind on technology. Ron's always fascinated by these things."

"I see. Well, get used to it, because there's a lot more where this came from."

"Anyway," Hermione said. "Back to what you were saying."

"Oh, right. My friend Marcus is also traveling the Hoenn region. He's in Rustboro right now. We were already planning to meet up once I got there. His older sister is a prodigy in the International Police, and they might be interested in your situation. They should be able to give you all the resources you need. "

Stephanie paused briefly before continuing.

"That is, if Marcus and I can get through to her."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "If you're friends, that shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"I'm friends with her brother," Stephanie answered. "She doesn't like me very much. Please don't ask. I really don't want to talk about it."

No one said anything for a few seconds until…

" _Vee!_ "

" _Purr!"_

Stephanie groaned and turned around. Sure enough, Kuro and Lynx were going at each other again. Kuro looked to have the upper hand. She had Lynx pinned face down on the ground while the Espurr struggled in vain to break free.

"Hey!" Stephanie shouted. "Knock it off!"

No response. She unhooked a Poke Ball from her backpack.

"Kuro," She said sternly. "Get off of her, or you're going in here!"

That got Kuro's attention. The Eevee sprang off of Lynx and looked back at Stephanie with a crestfallen expression.

Stephanie could only give an exasperated sigh.

"What's it going to take?"

"Does that happen a lot?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Usually when they don't get attention for a while."

"When you said Kuro would go in the ball, how were you going to fit her in there?"

"Uh."

Stephanie did not know how to explain that to them, but she realized she didn't need to.

"Hermione, right?"

"Yes?"

"There's no telling how long you might be stuck here, so I'll make things a little easier on you."

She put her hand on Hermione's forehead and closed her eyes.

"This may seem a little weird, but don't worry."

Rather than read Hermione's thoughts like she did with Ron earlier, Stephanie transferred the knowledge of her world to Hermione: the geography, Pokemon and their type matchups, anything she felt was important.

"There we go," Stephanie said when she was done. "You should be all set. Now for the other two."

* * *

"I found it this morning," Draco said, pointing to the ring in Malfoy Manor's drawing room. "I don't know exactly when it showed up."

"And you were inclined to contact me first and not the Dark Lord?" Snape asked.

"We…didn't think it was worth disturbing him," Draco replied nervously. _The less we see of him, the better_ , he thought to himself.

Of course, he would never say that out loud, especially not with his fanatically loyal aunt standing next to him.

"Did anything else happen before I arrived?"

"A small black dog came through it," Draco replied. "It tried to bite everything around it."

"Where is it now?"

"It found Nagini." Draco didn't need to elaborate further. The dog had tried to attack Voldemort's serpentine companion, with predictable results.

"We must inform the Dark Lord of this," Snape said. "We'll need the others to convene here as well. We might have to relocate if this thing remains here."

He pressed the Dark Mark on his arm.

* * *

"Did you hear that?"

Harry broke away from the group to investigate the noise. They were near the place where he and Hermione had first met Ron and Stephanie, so he had an idea of what it might be.

Sure enough, the Murkrow had regained consciousness. It was still reeling from its injuries, though. Try as it might, it could not stay on its feet for more than a few seconds before going down again.

The others caught up to him.

"Looks like you really did a number on it, Ron," said Stephanie. Her voice was shaky.

Despite all the problems the black bird had caused them, Harry could not help feeling sorry for it.

"It's painful to watch, isn't it?" Hermione said, as if sensing his thoughts. "Hey, Stephanie, why don't we take it to the Pokemon Center in the city?"

No answer.

"Stephanie?" Hermione tried again. "Where'd…"

They all turned around to see Stephanie – and her Pokemon - backing away from the scene.

"S-sorry, what was that?" She seemed nervous about something.

"We were thinking about taking the Murkrow with us," Harry said. "And let it recover at the Pokemon Center. Why don't you capture it?"

"I'd rather not," she answered.

"Why?" Harry was perplexed. "You saw what it's going through."

"What's your point?"

"We can't just leave it like this!" Harry was getting annoyed.

"Sure we can, and that's what we're going to do."

Annoyance was quickly turning into anger. Ron noticed and tried to diffuse the situation.

"Just do it," he said to Stephanie. "You don't want to make him angry. Trust me."

"I'll take my chances."

"Harry," Hermione whispered to him. "Don't turn this into a fight. Remember, she's all we have right now."

Hermione was right. Harry did not want to give Stephanie any reason not to help them, but he still did not want to leave the Murkrow either.

Then he thought of a solution.

"Fine, you don't have to capture it," he said. Stephanie sighed in relief. He waited a few seconds.

"I'll just pick it up and carry it myself."

Stephanie became unnerved again.

"Alright! Alright!" she nearly shouted. "You win!"

She slowly walked over to them. When she got there, Harry noticed her breathing was short and heavy.

"Okay," she whispered to herself. "I can do this. I can do this."

She unhooked a Poke Ball from her backpack and tossed it at the injured Murkrow. It hit, and a stream of red light engulfed the Murkrow and pulled it into the ball.

The Poke Ball fell to the ground and shook for a few seconds before coming to a still. Stephanie picked it up and hooked it onto her belt.

"We'll take it to the Pokemon Center to heal," she said. "Then I'll release it back into the wild."

Harry found it strange that she did not want to keep it, but decided not to press her about it. She was already bothered enough. Plus, she seemed exhausted. Stephanie had mentioned earlier that dumping all of that information into their minds was draining on her mentally.

"Are you afraid of birds?" Hermione asked. Her curiosity never seemed to rest.

"No, that's not it." Stephanie answered. "Come on, we need to get to Rustboro soon or I'm going to collapse."

* * *

"My Lord," Lucious Malfoy said nervously. "What do you suggest we do about this?"

"Annoyed" best described Voldemort's mood. He was displeased Snape had called him away from his search for the Elder Wand, but this mysterious ring in Malfoy Manor intrigued him enough that he wasn't angry. That would have been a relief to the Death Eaters who had gathered there if they had known that.

Draco's story about the dog particularly interested him. He had seen its ill-fated encounter with Nagini through the snake's eyes, but wasn't aware of the camera until Draco informed him. The thought of Muggles sending strange creatures through the ring was only a minor concern, but it still needed to be dealt with.

Voldemort thought over the possibilities. He did not want to relocate their base of operations; this certainly was not worth such inconvenience.

"It would be best to send a group to the other side and eliminate any potential threats," he finally said. "Does anyone wish to volunteer?"

No one answered. It was hardly a surprise. Failure of any sort meant facing severe consequences. Fortunately, he already had someone in mind.

"Draco," he said. "Since this is your home, and you've already proven yourself capable, I believe you're fit to carry out this task."

The boy looked stricken, much to Voldemort's amusement. "Assemble your team as you see fit."

He turned and walked out of the Manor without waiting for a response. He was about to depart when he heard someone running behind him. He already knew who it was and what he wanted.

"My Lord!" said an out of breath voice.

"Lucius, "Voldemort replied without turning around. "If you are so concerned for your son's safety, go with him."

He flew off without another word.

* * *

And that's the end of chapter 2. I'm going to try to stick to a schedule of a new chapter every 2 or 3 weeks.


	3. My Silver Lining

New year, new chapter!

Sorry for taking so long. Just a few days after I put up the last chapter, I got a new job that required me to move almost 300 miles (or a little more than 480 kilometers for you metric system people). Naturally, this story had to take a back seat for a while, but I'm back at it now that I've settled in.

Let's get to it! This chapter we see our first trainer battle, and Hermione does Hermione things.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **My Silver Lining**

"Hey, Stephanie," Harry said as they continued to march through Petalburg Woods.

"Hm?"

She hadn't spoken since catching the Murkrow, and still looked unsettled. Harry decided to try to snap her out of it.

"Why'd you choose to come here?" he asked. "Why not stay in your home region?"

"I want to see the world," she answered. "I love to travel. I've been to a lot of the cities in Unova, so I figured I'd start off somewhere else that I knew very little about. It makes for a much greater sense of adventure."

"And when you're finished in Hoenn, what do you plan to do?"

"If all goes well, the plan is to go back to Unova and enter the Pokemon World Tournament next year. Most of my class from trainer school is shooting for that."

"Are any of them here?"

Stephanie paused for a second before answering.

"Yeah. There are at least two more other than me and Marcus," she said. "Hopefully we don't run into them."

"Not on good terms?"

"With one of them, yeah," Stephanie answered. "The other…"

She started choking up.

"Sorry," she said. "I just can't talk about it right now."

"It's alright," Hermione said. "You don't need to tell us if you don't want to."

Harry decided to let it go.

A rustling noise from one of the trees in front of them stole his attention away, along with everyone else's.

"What do you think that was?" he asked.

"I'll check it out," said Stephanie. "Come with me, Lynx. Kuro, you stay back with them."

" _Vee!"_ Kuro cried, as if protesting.

"Save it," Stephanie scolded her. "I'm not in the mood."

She walked up to the tree directly in front of them where the noises had stopped.

"Wands out?" Ron suggested, drawing his.

"Not a bad idea," Harry replied. He and Hermione did the same.

Something jumped down from the tree. It moved too fast for Harry to pick up. He only saw a black streak.

Stephanie let out a piercing scream and fell backwards.

" _Eevee!"_

Kuro charged toward her, with Harry, Ron and Hermione not far behind.

They didn't get there. Whatever had landed from the tree jumped over Stephanie and right into their path, allowing them to get a good look at it.

It was a creature resembling a cat or a weasel. It stood on two legs and was covered in black fur. It had three tail feathers on its back and another on its left ear.

Its red eyes locked onto Harry and the others. It drew sharp-looking claws from its paws, as if daring them to come closer.

"Okay, that's enough, Bandit," a female voice cut in. "We don't want to scare them too much."

" _Sneasel!"_

The cat-weasel creature sprinted back in the direction of the voice, which belonged to a blonde haired girl who looked to be about their age. She almost looked like she could be Draco Malfoy's twin sister.

"That thing is yours?" Ron asked.

"Of course he's mine," the girl shot back. "If he were a wild Sneasel, you all would have been torn to shreds by now."

"I think she's one of the people Stephanie was talking about," Hermione whispered to him.

"Kiara," Stephanie growled as she got back to her feet, her face red with embarrassment. "That was uncalled for."

"I couldn't resist," Kiara answered, amused. "You make it too easy, anyway."

More red was added to Stephanie's face. But Kiara still wasn't done.

"You really should get over that," she said. "Other trainers will hear about it and use it against you. You won't be able to get very far otherwise."

Stephanie growled again in frustration. Before she could say anything, Kiara shifted her attention back to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"I see you made a few friends," she said. "Kiara Bright's the name. You're all Psychics like her, I can see."

"Psychics?" Harry said, confused. "We're not Psychics, we're…"

He didn't finish. He wasn't going to try to explain their situation to her. Kiara didn't notice.

"Really?" she seemed surprised. "That's strange. You have similar Auras to hers."

She pointed to Harry.

"Yours is especially strong. I wonder what makes you special."

"Are you an Aura Guardian?" Hermione asked.

That had been information Stephanie had transferred to them earlier. Harry wondered how Hermione could sort through all of that in such a short time.

"Oh, no," Kiara said. "I may be good, but I can just sense Aura. I'm nowhere near that level."

She gestured to Stephanie.

"Her friend Marcus can do that too," she said. "But his sister is the real deal."

"Why are you here?" Stephanie asked. "You wouldn't go out of your way just to prank me like this."

"Funny you should ask," Kiara said. "I just challenged the Rustboro City Gym."

"You won and you've come to gloat?"

Stephanie seemed to be getting more annoyed every time Kiara spoke.

"Actually," Kiara said. "I got quite the ass kicking"

"Huh? You lost?"

"Afraid so," Kiara answered. "So I came back to the Woods to catch some new Pokemon and train. And since you happened to be around…"

Stephanie finished for her.

"You want to battle me?"

"You got it."

"I don't know if I have the time."

She looked over at Harry.

While he did want to get out of the Woods and meet up with Stephanie's friend as soon as possible, this was an opportunity to learn more about the world they were in.

"Go ahead, Stephanie," he said. "I have a feeling she won't leave us alone until you do."

* * *

"How many Pokemon are we using?" Stephanie asked.

"Just one each," Kiara answered. "I figured your team might have been worn down in the Woods."

"Got it."

They had exited Petalburg Woods and were now on the north side of Route 104. Kiara had suggested they battle in a less confined area, which Stephanie was grateful for.

"I'll get this started," Kiara said as she tossed a Poke Ball forward. "This is your fight, Marten!"

The Poke Ball opened with a burst of light, revealing a Mienfoo.

 _She has a Fighting-type on her and she still lost at the Gym,_ Stephanie thought. _That could be trouble for me. But I'll worry about that later._

"Arrow, you're up!"

She sent out her Emolga. She figured he was rested enough by now.

"Arrow, take flight!"

" _Emol!"_

Arrow jumped onto Stephanie's shoulder, and leapt into the air to maximize his elevation. He began to circle around the opposing Mienfoo.

"Now, hit it with Spark!"

Arrow's body became surrounded with blue electricity, and he dove at his opponent.

But Marten was ready for it. He surrounded himself in a bubble of blue light.

Protect.

Arrow bounced harmlessly off the bubble and back upward.

The bubble dissipated. Marten began flexing his arms, and a red glow outlined his body.

 _He's using Bulk Up,_ Stephanie thought. _He's well trained._ _Kiara doesn't even need to command him._

That wasn't a surprise. It was a strategy Kiara frequently employed in her battle simulations at school. Using Protect to scout her opponents' moves and then powering up before going on the offensive. She had obviously ingrained it into her Pokemon.

But Protect wasn't likely to work again if used too soon after the last time. And Stephanie saw an opportunity.

"You know what to do, Arrow!"

The Emolga shot a Thunder Wave at Marten. There was no time to block or dodge it.

Marten had strengthened its Attack and Defense, but the Thunder Wave left it Paralyzed and would restrict its movements.

 _Off to a good start. Now let's see what you can really do._

"Aerial Ace!"

Arrow's body began to glow white. He dove at Marten again, and this time he landed a direct hit. Arrow then did an abrupt turnaround and struck Marten a second time.

Marten started to wobble.

 _One more should finish it._

"Hit him again!"

Stephanie could barely contain her excitement as Arrow dove for another run. After all the trouble Kiara had given her back home, defeating her in their first battle felt immensely satisfying.

Until…

"Façade!"

 _Oh, no!_

"Bail out, Arrow!" Stephanie called out in panic as. "Pull up! Pull up!"

Too late. Arrow was too far into his descent.

A yellow glow surrounded Marten, and he delivered a swift kick to Arrow when he was close enough.

Arrow was knocked back near Stephanie. He tried to get back up to no avail.

"Easy," Stephanie said as she pat Arrow on the back. "Don't push yourself too hard. You did great. I just screwed up."

She recalled Arrow back to his Poke Ball before turning to face Kiara, who had already approached her.

This was going to be painful. Having a win snatched away from her when it was so close like this was never easy to stomach. It was even worse for it to happen against Kiara.

She shook her head. She still needed to be a good sport about it.

"Congratulations," she said as they shook hands. Her voice still sounded hollow.

"So what did you do wrong?"

"What?" She was not expecting that.

"You said you screwed up," Kiara said. "How?"

"I, uh…I don't know."

"Because you didn't. You probably would have had me on the first Aerial Ace if Marten hadn't used Bulk Up. You made the right decisions. I gambled, and it paid off. Give yourself a little credit."

Stephanie poked Kiara in the shoulder.

"Uh…"

She did it again.

"Sorry," Stephanie said. "Just making sure you're the real Kiara. You've never been this friendly."

Kiara laughed.

* * *

"That was interesting," Harry said as Stephanie and Kiara walked back to them.

Ron was a bit more impressed.

"It was almost like a wizard's duel," he said. "Except no one died."

Hermione didn't say anything. Instead she was staring intently at Kiara's Sneasel.

"I wonder," Harry heard her whisper as she ran her hand over where the Horcux hung around her neck.

"So," Stephanie said to Kiara once they were all back together. "Aside from the Gym loss, how are things going for you in the region? Any captures so far?"

"Just one," Kiara replied. "I caught a Zigzagoon just after arriving. It's been tough going ever since. That's part of the reason why I lost. Limited encounters means fewer training opportunities."

Stephanie nodded.

"Yeah, it's been tough for me, too," she said. "I haven't caught anything yet, either."

"But you just caught that Murkrow," Harry said. He didn't understand how she could have forgotten that ordeal already.

"Hold on," Kiara said. "Say that again. I want to make sure I heard that right."

"Stephanie caught a Murkrow," Harry repeated. "It happened right before you showed up."

Kiara gave a dumbfounded expression before looking back over to Stephanie, who gave Harry an annoyed glare.

" _You_ caught a Murkrow?"

"Not willingly," Stephanie said. "It was hurt, and they forced me to catch it."

Kiara laughed.

"That must have been one hell of a guilt trip they put on you."

"It doesn't matter," Stephanie was getting annoyed with the conversation. "I'm going to release it after it's healed at the Pokemon Center."

"Why?" Kiara asked. "You'll have to get over that eventually. Holding onto the Murkrow would be a perfect way to start."

"Excuse me," Harry cut in. "What is all this about?"

"I guess she hasn't told you," Kiara answered. "But since you're traveling with her, you probably should know. Stephanie has an issue with Dark-type Pokemon. As in, she's scared to death of them."

"It's a sensory issue," Stephanie snapped. She clearly wasn't happy to be talking about this. "Dark-types are immune to most Psychic powers. I can't sense them, so I wouldn't be able to tell when a dangerous one might be sneaking up on me."

She glared back at Kiara.

"You're an Aura user," she said. "You don't have that problem because you can sense anything."

"That's not really an excuse," Hermione interjected. "Most don't have your abilities, and have that problem with all Pokemon types."

Kiara nodded at Hermione.

"She gets it," she said. "Plus, you know other trainers will take advantage of you fear once they learn about it. If you thought losing to me in a casual fight was bad, imagine losing to someone like Chloe in the PWT."

"Chloe isn't someone I would dread losing to," Stephanie replied. "She's almost the definition of a gracious winner."

"After she wins, sure. But do you really want to get one of her lectures during the battle? I can't really see you enjoying that."

Stephanie paused, and then heaved a sigh.

"I guess you're right," she said. She tapped the Poke Ball that held the Murkrow. "I'll give it a try."

"That's the spirit," said Kiara. "By the way, since I brought her up and you know her better than I do, where did Chloe end up going?"

"She said she was going to Alola. She really liked the place after researching it."

As the two girls kept talking, Harry saw something in the corner of his eye. Hermione had her wand out, pointing at Bandit, Kiara's Sneasel, and was muttering spells.

But nothing was happening. Bandit looked completely unaffected.

"Hermione," he whispered. "What are you doing?"

"I'll explain later," she whispered back. "I may have just learned something very helpful."

"Bandit!" Kiara's voice sounded. "Time to get going!"

The Sneasel ran over to join Kiara, who was on her way back into the forest.

"I'll see you all around," she called back to the group.

"I'll look forward to it," Stephanie called back. "It was nice to run into you, for once."

"We should probably move on, too," Ron said. "Don't want to keep your friend waiting any more than he has to."

"Right," Harry said. "But I think Hermione has something to tell us."

Hermione smiled.

"I certainly do," she said. "So, I tried to use some minor spells on Bandit while Stephanie and Kiara were talking. Nothing worked on it."

"Just like with the Murkrow?" Ron asked.

"Just like it," Hermione answered. "Remember what Kiara said when we first met her?"

"Yeah," said Ron. "That our Auras were almost the same as Stephanie's."

"She's a Psychic and we're Wizards," Hermione continued. "And even if they're not exactly the same, it looks like they have very similar properties. Dark-type Pokemon are immune to Psychic powers, and it looks like they're immune to magic as well."

Stephanie nodded.

"That makes sense," she said. "Good catch."

Stephanie looked at Ron.

"She does things like this all the time, doesn't she?"

"Oh yeah," Ron answered with a huge smile. "And it doesn't look like she's done yet."

"You're right," Hermione said. "There's one more thing."

"I take it this is the helpful part," Harry said.

"It is"

Hermione held up the Horcrux. She had been wearing it after Ron got it back.

"Stephanie, you said the locket tied itself around your wrist when you tried to throw it away during the Murkrow attack?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It tightened around my neck when I got close to Bandit. So if Dark-type moves are super effective against Psychic Pokemon…"

Harry realized what she was getting at.

"You think they might be able to destroy the Horcruxes," he said.

"It's definitely worth a try," Hermione said. "And after Stephanie heals her team at the Pokemon Centre, we can find out. We might actually be able to accomplish something while we're here."

"Sounds good," said Harry. "I think we've stood around long enough. Let's get moving."

* * *

"Is everyone ready?"

Draco had assembled his team for the expedition: his father, Crabbe, Goyle and his aunt.

Bringing Bellatrix along was a risky move. She was one of the Dark Lord's favorites, and it would only make things worse for Draco and his family if anything were to happen to her.

Still, Draco felt it was worth the risk. This was a situation that needed to be dealt with quickly, and Bellatrix was very good at that.

No one said anything.

"Alright. Let's get this over with."

"Remember," Lucius said as they approached the ring. "Don't try anything foolish. We don't need to deal with any more conflicts."

Draco sighed in annoyance. That seemed like an unnecessary order, but – he glanced over at Crabbe and Goyle – some of them probably needed the reminder.

"Bellatrix and I will take the lead," his father continued. "The rest of you keep behind us."

 _Makes sense,_ Draco thought as his father and aunt disappeared through the ring. _They'll be the most prepared for whatever's waiting for us._

He waited a few seconds before motioning to his remaining two comrades.

"Our turn," he said, and stepped through.

* * *

And there's Chapter 3. Hope it was worth the wait.

One thing I've noticed in Pokemon stories is that Dark-types are almost always the bad guys or used by the bad guys (except for the "cool" ones like Umbreon, Absol, ect.,). So I decided to flip the script. As for Dark Pokemon being immune to magic, a lot of things magic in PokeWorld are associated with Psychic-types (for example, both moves with "magic" in their names are Psychic-type moves), so I figured there were enough similarities for that to work. Hopefully I portrayed it in a way that made sense here.

I hope the battle read well. I don't read any of the Pokemon manga and I haven't really watched the anime since the Deoxys movie first aired on Cartoon Network more than a decade ago. So I didn't really have a whole lot to go on.

Finally, there's Stephanie and Kiara's conversation about Chloe. If you couldn't tell, that was a not so subtle advertisement for another story I plan on writing in the near future. It will connect to this one, though I'm not sure how much yet.

Next time: Our heroes arrive in Rustboro and Draco's group lands in Hoenn (but what awaits them there?). See you then.


	4. Say Hello to the Bad Guy

Sorry again for the long wait. Of the six months it took to get this chapter out, I probably spent about five and a half on the very last scene. There are a few reasons for that, but they can wait until the end.

Today we meet a couple of new characters, and there are a few big reveals.

On with the show!

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **Say Hello to the Bad Guy**

"Finally," Stephanie gasped, out of breath. "We made it."

"Is that the center over there?" Ron asked, pointing at a building with a roof shaped like the top half of a Poke Ball.

"Yeah, that's it," Stephanie answered. "And it looks like Marcus got my message."

She gestured to a dark-skinned boy leaning against the Pokemon Center wall near the entrance.

 _Good,_ Harry thought. _It's about time something went right here._

That seemed to provide the group a spark as they picked up the pace as they neared the Pokemon Center.

"Hey, Marcus!" Stephanie called out. "Thanks for…"

She trailed off and stopped moving just before they reached the Center.

"Wait," she said.

Then she smirked and shook her head.

"Kuro, use Quick Attack."

"Vee!"

Kuro charged and halfheartedly rammed into Marcus, or what they had thought was Marcus. There was a flash when Kuro made contact, and standing where Marcus had been was a small, dark gray, foxlike Pokemon.

It startled Ron.

"What…what is that?!"

"It's a Zorua, Ron," Hermione said with a hint of annoyance. "You should know that. It was one of the first memories Stephanie gave us."

Ron started to argue back, and Harry decided to tune them out and turned his attention back to the Zorua. Stephanie was petting it on the head and talking to it.

"Nice to see you, too, Kit," she said. "He still won't give up on this, huh?"

The Zorua yipped in reply.

"Should have known," she sighed.

She straightened up and looked over at the side corner.

"Nice try, Mr. Wolf," she said. "But you should know by now that trick doesn't work on me."

The real Marcus emerged from the side of the Pokemon Center.

"You sounded tired in your message," he said. "I thought by now you might be too worn out to notice."

"Come on," Stephanie said. "What do you take me for?"

"Seriously, though," Marcus said. "I'm glad you made it here alright. So, who are your friends?"

"Yeah," Stephanie said uneasily. "About that…"

"Stephanie should get her Pokemon healed up first," said Harry to Marcus. "After that, we've got a story for you."

* * *

"That's…very interesting," was all Marcus could manage to say.

They were in a hotel room in Rustboro City. Marcus and Stephanie had booked another room for Harry, Ron and Hermione as well. Stephanie had given Marcus an information dump much like she had given them in Petalburg Woods.

"So, what do you think?" Stephanie asked. "Can your sister help them?"

"I honestly don't know," he said. "Rebecca rarely ever talks about her work – not that she really could if she wanted to – I'm not sure if they could even investigate this type of thing."

Marcus paused for a moment.

"You know, it's really too bad we're not in Alola right now. There's a facility for researching other dimensions there."

"Can you try calling her?" Stephanie asked. "You saw how urgent their situation is."

"I'll give it a try," he said. "But I should probably do this in another room. It could get really nasty once she realizes I'm asking her to help you."

Stephanie nodded.

"I understand."

Marcus left the room, leaving the four of them alone.

"Here we go," Stephanie said. "Moment of truth."

"We should probably think about what do just in case this doesn't work out," Hermione said. "It's always good to have a contingency plan."

"I don't really think we have much of a choice," said Harry. "We'll probably just have to tag along with Stephanie. If that's alright with her."

"Fine with me," she said. "I can't exactly leave you to fend for yourselves here. Plus, it would be nice to have the company."

A few more minutes passed before Marcus came back into the room.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked.

But the look on his face said it all.

"Not good."

"Afraid not," he answered. He looked at Stephanie. "I got as far as saying your name, and that was the end of it."

Stephanie sighed and hung her head.

"Not surprising."

"It's not all bad news, though," Marcus said. "Before she got to the lecture, Rebecca did say she's coming to Hoenn for a case. So maybe she'll reconsider if I try again later and keep up the pressure."

"Maybe," Stephanie said. She did not look comfortable with that idea.

"Did she say what she was coming in for?"

"She couldn't get into the details, but she did say there was some suspicious activity going on in Hoenn. So we should be careful."

Marcus paused for a second before continuing.

"You know, she did seem a little worried when I told her I planned on going to Hoenn. This is probably why."

"I think she's worrying too much. It's not like Unova has been the picture of safety lately."

"Yeah, but you know how she is. But back to business here."

"I think we're going to tag along with Stephanie," Harry said. "There's a chance we could run into one of those rings again if we're traveling around."

"Okay, that's settled," said Ron. "Now what?"

"My Pokemon should be healed by now," said Stephanie. "Let's run back to the Center and pick them up."

"Good idea," said Hermione. She held up the locket. "And then we can test out my theory."

* * *

"Alright," Stephanie said as she held the Murkrow's Poke Ball. "Here we go."

Harry couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Sure, his nerves were acting up. He was about to learn if a Pokemon could destroy the Horcrux. But Stephanie seemed barely functional about having to be around the Murkrow again.

"Do you have a name for it?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered, short on breath. "She's a female, so I decided to call her Mia."

"Will you relax?" Hermione mock-scolded her. "You're her trainer now. She's not going to attack you again."

"Easy for you to say."

"Alright, alright," said Marcus. "Let's get a move on. I'm interested in seeing this."

They were back in Petalburg Woods. It was better to do this without anybody around. Stephanie had made sure she could not sense anyone in the area. Hermione had set the locket down a short distance away.

"Okay," said Stephanie. "Come out, Mia!"

She tossed the Poke Ball in front of her. Mia appeared after a flash of light.

She stared at Stephanie intently, causing the latter to take a few steps back. Stephanie was still obviously uncomfortable despite Kiara's "encouragement" earlier.

Ron approached her from behind and put a hand on her shoulder, oblivious to Hermione's glare of disapproval.

"It's alright," Ron said reassuringly. "It can't be any worse than when you two first met. She's probably…"

Mia cawed and took off flying right at them. Stephanie screamed and tumbled backward.

But Mia did not attack her. Instead, she landed on Ron's shoulder.

"Huh?" Ron was startled.

Mia started brushing her face against his.

"What…What's going on here?"

"Well, that's interesting," said Marcus. "Looks like she's chosen you over Stephanie."

"But, why?" Ron asked. "Stephanie captured her."

"Yeah," Stephanie said getting back to her feet. "But you did all the work to make it happen. So she must consider you more worthy to be her trainer."

"So…er…what do I do now?"

"Just tell her to attack the locket," Hermione snapped.

"O-okay, but what move do I use?" Ron wasn't handling his sudden anointment as a trainer very well.

"I taught her Dark Pulse with a TM when I picked her up from the Center," said Stephanie. "That's probably your best bet. It's one of the strongest Dark-type moves out there."

"Alright," Ron said. "I'll do that."

Hermione scoffed just loudly enough for Harry's ears to pick it up. Fortunately no one else seemed to hear it.

"Hermione," he whispered. "Don't you think you being a little too paranoid?"

Hermione shot a dirty look back at Harry. It frightened him enough to not push it any further. At least for now.

"I'm going to open the locket," he said. "And, Ron, tell Mia to attack it right away. Whatever's in there is going to put up a fight, so don't waste any time on it."

"How are you going to open it?" Ron asked.

"I'll ask it to open, with Parseltongue," said Harry.

"Parse…what?" asked Stephanie.

"Harry can speak to snakes," Hermione said sharply. "I thought you would have known that from reading Ron's mind earlier."

"I took in what I thought was important," Stephanie replied. She was getting defensive now. "I couldn't remember every single detail."

"You girls can argue about that later," said Marcus. "We're burning daylight; it's going to be dark soon. Let's get this show on the road."

"Yes, let's," Harry said. "Here it goes. On three now."

He put all of his focus on the locket.

"One…two…three… _open_."

The last word came out as a hiss. The locket swung open.

"Are those… eyes?" Stephanie asked? She was _very_ unsettled.

Indeed, they were. Behind each of the glass windows inside the locket was an eye. Tom Riddle's eyes before his transformation.

"Do it now, Ron," Harry said hurriedly.

A voiced hissed from the Horcrux.

" _I have seen your heart, and it is mine."_

"Mia," Ron began. "Use Dark…"

" _I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all you_ _dread is also possible."_

"Don't listen!" Harry shouted. He could tell Ron was starting to waver.

" _Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter…Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend…Second best, always, eternally overshadowed…"_

"Ron!" Harry shouted again. But before the Horcrux could say anything more, Mia let out a loud caw and fired a black beam of energy at it.

The Horcrux went silent as it was hit, but remained intact.

"She used Night Shade!" Stephanie yelled. "But that wasn't enough. Finish it off now before it starts up again. You can do this, Ron!"

"Right, okay," Ron said more to himself than anyone else. "Mia, use Dark Pulse!"

Right away, Mia shot a beam of purple and black circles from her beak at the Horcrux. There was a blinding flash of light and a loud, long scream when the attack hit. And then, silence.

"Is it out?" Harry asked.

"I-I'm not sensing anything," said Stephanie.

"I'll check it out," Harry said. But before he could move, Mia fluttered over to the locket, picked it up and flew back to drop it at his feet.

The windows were shattered. The Riddle eyes were gone.

"You did, Ron!" he said excitedly.

No answer.

"Ron?"

Harry looked up to see Hermione rushing to Ron's side. Ron had fallen to his and was holding his head in his hands.

Harry darted towards them as well.

"Hey!" Stephanie said in alarm. "Are you – are you okay?"

She started to move forward when Hermione flashed a look at her. Harry couldn't see it, but it was enough to make Stephanie back up a few steps. She looked like she wanted to say something, but Marcus put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head when she looked at him.

 _We'll need to do something about that_ Harry thought.

They couldn't let Hermione's jealousy get out of hand, and the Horcrux announcing Ron's insecurities to everyone obviously did not help matters.

"We should probably get back to the hotel now," Stephanie said uncomfortably. "Give me a second. Here we go."

There was a flash of light, and they were all back in the hotel room.

"What just happened here," Harry asked, a bit startled.

"I can teleport," Stephanie replied wearily. "And that just took out the last of my energy."

She fell backwards onto the couch.

"What a day," she groaned.

"That's right," Harry said. He was starting to feel exhausted as well. "It really has only been a day."

"Longer, actually," said Hermione. "It was night in England when this all started for us."

"Looks like we all could use some rest," said Marcus. "You guys remember where your room is?"

"Yeah," said Ron, finally able to speak again. "That's not a problem."

"You two go on ahead," Harry said to Ron and Hermione. "I'll catch up in a bit."

They left without saying anything. Mia trailed behind them.

Stephanie seemed to guess what Harry wanted to talk about.

"This is about me and Hermione, isn't it?"

Harry nodded.

"You might want to give her and Ron some space for a while," he said. "She's brilliant, but she can be a bit insecure when it comes to Ron. She's a lot like him in that way."

"Yeah," she answered. "I've noticed. Don't worry, I can take my self out of the picture tomorrow."

"You got a plan?" asked Marcus.

She nodded.

"I'll do some sightseeing around town in the morning," she said. "And then I have a Badge to win."

She looked back over at Harry.

"Anything else you need from me?"

Harry shook his head.

"Good."

She fell over on her side. Out cold.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Marcus asked.

"She's afraid of Dark-type Pokemon," Harry said. "But not your Zorua. Why?"

"Familiarity, I guess. She's known Kit for a while, so she's probably used to him. At least that's the only reason I can think of."

Harry nodded.

"Tell her I said good luck with her Gym challenge," he said before exiting.

Harry didn't say anything to Ron and Hermione once he got to their room. He figured they needed some time to themselves. Instead, he immediately collapsed onto his bed and let a much needed sleep overtake him.

* * *

 _This wasn't quite what I expected,_ Draco thought as he took in his surroundings after stepping through the ring with Crabbe and Goyle.

They were on a ship at sea. A mast stood in the center of the deck a few dozen feet away. Night was beginning to fall as the sun set over land in the distance. It was a pretty sight, and it made Draco feel just a little more relaxed for a moment.

Only a moment.

 _Waaaaaaatch!_

A shrill cry filled the air.

 _What was that?!_

"There! Over there!" Draco heard his father shout.

Near a staircase at the front of the ship stood a large and unusual looking rodent creature. If Draco had to make a comparison, he would say it looked like a giant rat, but its posture reminded him of a meerkat. Its body was mostly reddish brown with yellow stripes in the middle. What caught Draco's attention most were its glowing eyes. It turned its head slowly, as if registering each one of Draco and his comrades.

 _Waaaaaaaatch!_ It screamed again.

"Leave it alone for now," Draco said. "Remember, we don't want to start anything if we don't need to."

"Good job, Watchog!" a voice called from behind them. "Give each of them a Mean Look!"

 _As opposed to how it's already looking at us?_ Draco thought as he turned around to face the voice's source.

"Look out!" his father shouted as he stepped in front of him and cast a Shield Charm.

Draco saw a large snake lunge and bounce off the invisible shield. When the snake landed on the deck, he felt calling it "large" was a disservice. It looked to be close to ten feet in length, and it had the thickness of a large python or anaconda, though its blood red fangs gave it the appearance of a viper.

It was truly the stuff of nightmares.

"Sorry, sorry!"

That voice was different from the one before, and the snake settled down a little upon hearing it.

A young woman appeared next to the snake and knelt down beside it, petting it gently. The sunlight was fading but she was close enough for Draco to make out some of her features. She looked to be a little older than him, maybe by about a year or two.

 _If I had an older sister, she's probably look like that,_ he thought.

He also saw a man right behind her. He guessed that was the first voice they had heard. They were both dressed in dark colored clothes, but the man also wore a hat and had the lower half of his face covered. On the left side of his shirt was a half-black, half-white shield design with what looked like a "P" in the center.

"Sorry," the woman said again. "Krait can be a little jumpy, especially with strangers."

She started walking toward them, the snake slithering at her side.

"Did you come through the ring?" she asked. "Where are you from? What brings you here?"

She spoke in a friendly tone. It was enough to make Draco relax just a little. Still, neither he nor anyone else answered her.

"Come on, don't be shy!"

"Savanna," the man spoke for the first time. "I'm not sure you should…"

Savanna held up a hand behind her to silence him.

"It's alright," she said without looking back. "I got this."

"Father," Draco whispered. "Take the Shield Charm down. I'm going to try talking to her."

His father gave him a confused look.

"I'd like to solve this without any fighting," Draco went on. "If I talk with her, there's a chance we can reach an understanding. Then we can all go home and that'll be the end of it."

His father gave it a few seconds of thought.

"Alright," he said and began working to undo the shield.

"Hey, hey," Savanna spoke up again. "What's everyone talking about over there? No need to keep secrets."

"Just hold on for a moment," Draco answered. "I'll tell you everything you need to know soon enough."

It only took a couple of minutes for his father to get the shield down.

"No one do anything foolish," Draco said before moving forward. "Please, don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be."

* * *

And that's the end of chapter four. I hope you enjoyed it.

The main reason this chapter (or really, the end of it) took so long to finish is because I had a hard time figuring out where to send Draco and the others. I went through about a dozen locations before finally settling on the Plasma Frigate.

Yes, Team Plasma's in Hoenn. I know in the BW2 postgame they were trying to atone for their sins with Colress leading them, but let's pretend that didn't happen. I wanted to extend the final scene a little more at first, but I figured this was a good stopping point since you all have waited long enough for this chapter by now. Plus, it's a good way to carry momentum into chapter 5. As for everything else...

Ron's a trainer now. How's he going to handle it going forward? _What_ is Team Plasma doing in Hoenn anyway? Will Draco's attempt at diplomacy work? Keep reading to find out!

Naming notes (since I forgot to do it last chapter)

Marten: a member of the weasel family.

Bandit: A reference to Sneasel's Hidden Ability, Pickpocket.

Kit: After the kit fox species.

Mia: Named after Mia Corvere, the protagonist of Jay Kristoff's _Nevernight Chronicle_.

Krait: A type of venomous snake.

One more thing. I'm thinking of going back and changing one of Stephanie's Pokemon. It won't make any real difference in the plot so far, so anyone who's read up to this point won't need to go back and reread from the beginning.


	5. Let's Get Rocked

I decided not to make any changes for now.

Not nearly as long a wait this time. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Let's Get Rocked**

"You look really stressed out," Savanna said. "Krait and I don't scare you that much, do we?"

The snake, Krait, gave an angry hiss at Draco.

"Chill out!" Savanna scolded it. "If I need your help, I'll ask for it."

Krait slithered off to the side, eyes still on Draco.

"Sorry again. Like I said, he doesn't like strangers, especially if they get close to me."

 _You could have told me that before I walked over here._

"It's not a problem," Draco said.

"So, what's got you so down?"

 _A nearly all-powerful dark wizard has my family at his mercy, and failing him means death._

"It's hard to explain."

"Anything you want to talk about?

 _Help me!_

"Not really, no."

"Okay then, let's get the introductions out of the way. I'm Savanna. It's nice to meet you."

"My name's Draco, Draco Malfoy."

Savanna winced at the sound of his name.

"Whoa, you scared me for a second there," she said. "I thought you were about to call for a Draco Meteor attack."

"A…what?"

"Draco Meteor. You know, the strongest Dragon-type move there is."

Draco could only give a blank stare, but Savanna seemed to not notice his confusion. She looked like she was studying his appearance.

"You know, you kind of look like a Dragon-type user," she said. "But judging from that barrier one of your friends threw up, I'm guessing you're Psychics. Am I right?"

"It's something like that. Where exactly are we?"

"Oh, right. We're a few miles away from Mossdeep City in the Hoenn region."

Draco gave her another blank stare.

"So you did come from the ring?" Savanna continued.

"Yeah, yeah we did."

"Great! There's something we want to show you. Come on, follow me."

She turned and started walking away, but Draco felt everything was moving too fast.

"Wait, hold on a moment!"

He grabbed her arm before she could get out of reach. Almost immediately, he heard an aggressive hiss, and released Savanna and pulled his arm back just in time to narrowly avoid a pair of red fangs.

"Krait!" Savanna shouted. "I told you to…"

She didn't finish. A streak of blue light struck the snake and knocked him backwards. A stunning spell.

Neither Draco nor Savanna said anything. They both stared at the unconscious Krait, then at each other – probably with the same stunned expression – still silent.

Then Draco swore as he turned around for an explanation. He looked at his father and aunt first. They seemed as shocked as he was. He turned his attention to Crabbe and Goyle, who…pointed at each other.

Draco groaned. _Of course_ they would do that.

"I'm so sorry!" he said quickly as he turned his attention back to Savanna. "Don't worry, I can fix…"

He didn't get a chance to finish as Savanna grabbed his shoulder and shoved him aside. He caught a brief glimpse of her face as she passed him.

 _She's on a warpath._

She tossed a red and white ball in front of her.

"You're up, Badger."

A flash of white light, then a horrible odor filled the air. A purple skunk appeared in front of Savanna, its attention – as well as hers – focused on Crabbe and Goyle.

A brief second of silence, and then…

"Flamethrower."

The skunk shot a steam of fire from its mouth at the pair. Draco didn't say anything else. She probably wasn't going to listen to reason at this point. He readied his wand.

"Oh, no you don't!"

Another red and white ball landed in front of Draco, and what emerged from the light looked like a large frog. It stood on two legs, and had a bulging sack on its throat as well as a pointed spike on each of its hands.

"That should keep you occupied for a while."

He had forgotten about Savanna's companion behind him.

"Toxicroak, use Poison Jab!"

The frog leaped at Draco so quickly that he only had time to instinctively throw up a Shield Charm. It threw a punch at him, only to bounce harmlessly off the shield.

"Try it again!"

The frog obeyed, only to come up with the same result.

"That's one effective barrier," the man said. "But we have ways to deal with that. Brick Break!"

The frog attacked again. This time it broke through the shield, much to Draco's surprise. He tried to sidestep the attack. The spike on the frog's palmtop tore through the sleeve of his robe, but did not pierce the skin.

Draco stumbled backwards, but managed to keep his balance. He fired a stunner at the frog. There was no time to dodge from such close range, and it crumpled to the deck instantly.

 _One down_ , Draco thought as he regained his footing. _Now for the other._

But almost right away he found himself staring at another obstacle. The frog disappeared in a red light, and another creature took its place. This one was much more "normal" looking – a purple colored big cat with yellow outlined scattered about its fur.

 _It's beautiful. I almost feel bad about having to do this._

He cast another Stunning Spell at the cat. It connected, but the cat remained standing. He tried it again; same result. The cat growled after a third attempt, almost as if it was getting impatient with him.

"You shouldn't waste your effort like that," a different male voice spoke. This one sounded older and spoke with authority.

The man it belonged to was dressed in in a long purple robe with the same icon as the other man on his chest.

"Liepard is a Dark-type," he said. "Your powers won't work on it."

Draco could only stare, dumbfounded. Indistinct shouting broke him out of his stupor. He looked around and saw the ship's deck was now swarming with people and more of the big cats. The rest of his group had been separated and surrounded. Savanna had Crabbe cornered against the side. Draco guessed he was the one to stun Krait. None of them were attempting any spells.

"By now you should have realized there's no use in resisting," the man spoke again, this time louder. He was addressing all of them at once. "Put down your weapons and surrender. I shouldn't have to explain what will happen if you refuse."

Draco heard Bellatrix laugh. A surrender was not going to happen, at least not yet.

The man side and made a signal with his hand. Draco suddenly felt a breeze blow by him. He took a quick look around him, but did not see any changes. The cat was still in the same place.

Then he realized he no longer held his wand, and, judging from the surprised gasps, the same thing had happened to the rest of his team.

In the next instant three identical looking men appeared in front of the man in the robe. They each had long white hair and faces mostly obscured by masks. One of them held Draco's wand, the other two holding the rest.

 _Where…how…what just happened?_

"Perhaps now you'll be more reasonable."

Draco hesitated for a second, and then put his hands up.

"Good choice."

* * *

Stephanie stepped into the trainer's box with Lynx and Kuro at her side. It was early in the morning, so there was not much of a crowd in the Gym. And that was just fine with her.

"Two Pokemon each, no time limit," said the referee. "Good luck to you both."

"Alright, Geodude, you're up first!" the Gym Leader, Roxanne, called out.

"Lynx, go for it!"

Lynx eagerly jumped onto the field. She and Geodude stared each other down, neither of them moving.

 _Rocks all over the place,_ Stephanie thought. _Plenty of cover from long-distance attacks._ _Let's start off by getting in close._

"You know what to do!" she shouted at Lynx.

" _Espurr!"_

Lynx darted at Geodude. She closed the gap between them quickly enough that Geodude had no time to respond. She clapped her hands together and sent a shockwave at it. The attack connected, temporarily stunning Geodude.

 _Fake Out worked perfectly. Now let's go in for the knockout._

"Energy Ball!"

Lynx's ears opened as she fired the Energy Ball. Geodude, still stunned from the Fake Out, could do nothing to avoid it. Lynx scored a direct hit, but…

 _Not quite enough to finish it off._

"Get away from it, Lynx!"

Lynx jumped back several steps until she felt she was a safe enough distance away.

"Geodude, take cover!"

Geodude ran, or skipped, to be more accurate, behind one of the rocks on the field.

"That was a good idea, Stephanie," Roxanne shouted at her from the other side. "Against a normal trainer, that probably would have been enough. But a Gym Leader won't go down that easily. Rock Polish!"

A bright glow started behind Geodude's hiding rock.

 _Powering up? We can do that, too._

"Calm Mind!"

Lynx closed her eyes, and she began to glow. It faded when her eyes opened again, but the effect remained.

 _Next hit should do it, no matter what the attack is. Then I'm set up for her last Pokemon._

"Rock Tomb!"

Geodude emerged from its hiding spot. It punched the ground, causing the field to shake.

" _Purr!_ "

Lynx swayed on her spot. After a few seconds she lost her footing and tumbled to the ground.

"It's alright, Lynx! Just get back up and…"

Giant rocks shot up from the ground all around Lynx before before Stephanie could finish.

" _Purr! Espurr!"_ Lynx cried out in panic.

 _She's trapped!_

"Use Confusion! Turn those rocks into dust!"

But Roxanne wasn't waiting around.

"Magnitude!"

 _Crap!_

Geodude punched the ground again. This time, it felt like the entire gym was shaking. Many of the rocks on the field shattered, including the ones trapping Lynx. The Rock Tomb caved in on her.

"Lynx, no!"

Stephanie watched the pile of rubble for several agonizing seconds. Then she felt a surge of energy from beneath it. The whole pile was blasted away, revealing a battered but still standing Lynx.

 _She can't take much more. Gotta end it now!_

"Psybeam!"

"Dodge it!"

Lynx did as commanded, but Geodude managed to evade it thanks to the speed boost from Rock Polish.

"Keep firing! Don't let up for a second!"

Lynx continued with the Psybeam barrage. Geodude's increased speed allowed it to escape again and again, but its earlier Magnitude attack had destroyed most of its cover, and Lynx wasn't giving it any time for a counter attack.

Finally, one of the Psybeams connected, and Geodude went down in a heap.

"Call it," Stephanie whispered to herself without daring to look at the referee. "Come on, call it!"

"Geodude is unable to battle. Espurr wins!"

Stephanie exhaled. Geodude had made it difficult with Rock Polish, but over the course of a battle, fast eventually slows down.

 _Half way there!_ Stephanie could barely contain her excitement. _Let's bring this one home!_

* * *

There was no one else in the room when Hermione woke up. She correctly guessed Harry and Ron were with Marcus, since she figured they would not go anywhere around the city without her. She did notice someone else's absence when she met up with them in Marcus's room.

"Where's Stephanie?"

"She's challenging the Gym Leader," Harry said. "Heard she left first thing in the morning."

Hermione would have been lying if she had said she wasn't a little relieved after hearing that. She looked over at Ron, who was fidgeting uncomfortable and tapping Mia's Poke Ball.

Now that Ron had a Pokemon of his own, he was going to need some pointers on training. Hermione knew she was probably being irrational, but she could not help feeling uncomfortable knowing Ron would be getting help from Stephanie.

"So we're just waiting for her to come back?"

"Yeah, hopefully with a Stone Badge," Marcus said.

"And hopefully soon," Ron chimed in, a little too eagerly for Hermione's liking. "We made some big plans for the day while you were sleeping."

"Oh, really? What did you come up with?"

"Not telling yet," said Harry. "We'll wait until Stephanie gets here. She doesn't know about it yet either."

Hermione was a little annoyed at that as she took a seat on the couch. She could tell whatever they had planned had them excited.

But she did not have to wait long. A click followed by the sound of the door opening meant Stephanie had returned. Hermione did not look at her right away.

"How'd it go?" Marcus asked.

Stephanie groaned in response as she sat down next to Hermione, her hand pressed up against her forehead. Kuro curled up by her feet. She did not look happy either.

"Not well, I take it?" Hermione said.

"Beat like a rented Numel," Stephanie answered. "I got past Roxanne's Geodude, but her Nosepass, ugh!"

She let out another frustrated groan.

"I can see why Kiara had so much trouble, and she even had a type advantage!"

"Sounds like you need to do some more training or get some more Pokemon," Hermione said.

"Probably both."

"Then on that note," Marcus cut in. "We came up with an idea while you were away."

"Oh, really? What do you have in mind?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "Please tell us."

"Well, Ron has a Pokemon now," Marcus said. "But there's no reason for him to have all the fun. So, we figured you and Harry could get in on the action. If you're up for it, that is."

"That sounds good," Hermione said immediately. She could still remember most of the important information Stephanie had given them yesterday, so she could help out Ron with training Mia.

"Yeah, let's do it!" she said eagerly.

"Alright then," said Marcus. "I'll take Harry and Ron up to Route 115."

"Wait," Hermione said, her excitement fading a little. "Just you three? What about us?"

"By splitting up, there's a better chance at least one of us will get a Pokemon," Harry said. "And we thought you two could use a girls' day out."

"Hold on!" Hermione and Stephanie said in unison, but the other three left the room before they could get another word in, leaving the two girls alone.

Several uncomfortable minutes of silence followed.

"So, uh…" Stephanie tried to speak, but could not find the words.

"Just say where you want to go," said Hermione. She kept as calm as she possibly could.

"W-well, Lynx and Arrow are at the Pokemon Center. I thought maybe checking out Route 116 after they've healed. Maybe go down to Route 105 after that?"

"Fine."

More silence.

"They should be just about done. We…uh…we can probably go now."

Hermione quietly sighed and followed Stephanie out the room.

 _It's going to be a long day._

* * *

Draco drummed his fingers on the table in his cabin. Or maybe "cell" was the more appropriate term since he was a prisoner. This group, whoever they were, had separated his team, locking them each in a different room. It had been hours since he had last seen someone. He was alone with his thoughts.

And the creepy meerkat-gopher animal like the one he saw on the deck.

"Stop looking at me."

" _Watch!_ "

"Can you say anything else?"

" _Watch! Watchog!_ "

"Forget it."

He snapped back to attention when the door opened. The robed man from before entered first, followed by Savanna. She did not have her snake or her skunk with her.

"My name is Zinzolin," the man said. "I am one on the sages of Team Plasma. Am I correct in assuming you are the leader?"

Draco said nothing.

"Perhaps you would be more willing to talk to Savanna?"

Draco still did not reply.

Savanna took her seat at the opposite end of the small table. She was holding several sheets of paper.

"I'm, uh, sorry about that little dustup earlier," she said nervously.

 _A little late for that, don't you think?_

"Krait and I have been through a lot together," she continued. "He doesn't like anyone touching me. I'm kind of the same way with him."

"I noticed," Draco answered flatly.

"We'll get straight to the point," Savanna said. "I told you before things got crazy I wanted to show you something, and I have it here."

She handed the papers over to Draco.

"Have a look at them. We got these images from one of our camera traps in Petalburg Woods."

Draco examined the first image. It was a ring, just like the one that appeared in his family manor. He moved on to the second image.

 _Is that…Weasley?_

He took a closer look. Sure enough, his eyes were not playing tricks on him.

 _If Wesley's there, then maybe…_

He flipped over to the next one. Another picture of the ring. Onto the next. The ring was gone, but Draco was more focused on what was there. Weasley was back, along with Potter, Granger and someone else.

"The look on your face says it all," Savanna said. "I can tell you know them. They friends of yours?"

Draco was unable to suppress a laugh.

"So, enemies then? You want to tell us about it?"

* * *

And that's the end of Chapter 5! Hope you liked it. I can't say thanks enough to everyone who has kept coming back despite all the earlier delays. Really, I appreciate it.

See you all next time!


	6. Directions to See a Ghost

I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry for another long delay. You can blame work (I'm a news journalist, so my free time is always at the mercy of the news cycle). Anyway, enough wasting your time. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **Directions to See a Ghost**

Hermione waited outside the Pokemon Center. The automatic doors opened and Stephanie came out with Kuro leading the way. She gave Hermione a nervous glance and looked away.

They hadn't spoken to each other since leaving the hotel.

Hermione sighed quietly. She knew why the others had left her and Stephanie alone, and she knew they would have to talk about it eventually.

 _But that's going to be hard if she's afraid of me. Maybe I settle her down a little and get her to open up._

"So," she began. "Kuro need some alone time?"

Stephanie jumped in surprise.

"Huh?"

"You only have Kuro out with you," Hermione said. "Not going to let Lynx out?"

"Oh, I thought I'd give her a little extra rest," Stephanie answered. "She took a pounding in the Gym battle."

 _Good start. Now I need to keep it going._

"So, what can we expect to find where we're going?"

"Uh, let's see here."

Stephanie pulled out her Pokedex and scrolled through it.

"Looks like the most common Pokemon on Route 116 are Zigzagoon, Taillow and Whismur," she said. "There have also been Joltik and Eevee sightings there since the Weather Crisis ended a few years ago."

"Anything that could help you with the Gym?" Hermione asked.

"Not really, but this is more about helping you find a Pokemon than anything else, and those are all good ones for beginners."

 _It worked. She's so much calmer now._

"Alright," Hermione said. "We'll stick to the plan. You lead the way."

"Well," said Stephanie. "This has been a dud so far. No Pokemon or trainers to battle."

"A little early to call it that, don't you think?" Hermione said. "We've only been out here for a couple of hours, and there's still plenty of time left in the day."

"I know, but I really wanted to find something for you quickly."

"Just be patient," Hermione said. "I'm sure we'll find something eventually. And I think…"

She trailed off when she spotted a large shadow moving to a nearby tree behind Stephanie.

Hermione heard Stephanie say something, but she had too much of her attention on the shadow to hear it.

A large bird landed on the tree branch with its back turned.

"Hey, Hermione!" Stephanie almost shouted, breaking her concentration. "You alright?"

Hermione pointed at the tree behind Stephanie, who turned around and gave a startled gasp.

The bird had turned to the side, giving them a better look at it. Stephanie fumbled around with her Pokedex before she was able to get a reading.

 _Swellow: the Swallow Pokemon. Swellow circle the sky searching for weakened Pokemon on the ground. It dives at its prey at high speeds._

Hermione looked over Stephanie's shoulder at the Pokedex, and then looked back up at the Swellow. Its appearance differed from the image on the Pokedex screen. The Swellow in the tree had bright green feathers on its top side instead of blue, and its throat was a brighter orange color than its Pokedex image.

" I've never seen one before," Stephanie said. "They're so rare in Unova. And it's a shiny too."

"Shiny?"

"It's what people like to call Pokemon that have different colors than normal. So, is this something you think you would want?"

Hermione gave it a thought for a moment. She gave the Swellow another look and noticed it staring intently at a nearby patch of tall grass.

 _It looks for weak Pokemon on the ground._

"No, I don't think so," Hermione answered. _If there's an injured Pokemon in the grass, it might be an easier catch,_ she thought.

"Okay then. Perfect"

Stephanie then released Arrow from his Poke Ball.

"Listen closely," she said to the Emolga. "Get up there and use Nuzzle. Don't let it get too far away. Be as quiet as you can."

 _Emol!_

Arrow scurried towards the tree. The Swellow paid him no mind; its attention remained locked on to the grass patch.

"I think there's an injured Pokemon in the grass over there," Hermione said. "I'm going to check it out while you handle that."

Stephanie nodded and handed Hermione a pink Poke Ball.

"It's a Heal Ball," she said. "It restores the Pokemon to full health once it's caught. Good luck."

"You too."

 _Emolga!_

There was a buzzing sound, followed by a cry from the Swellow. Arrow's attack was successful.

The Swellow flew awkwardly overhead. Arrow's Nuzzle attack had paralyzed it, limiting its flight capabilities.

"We'll meet back here once I'm done," Stephanie said and took off after the Swellow.

Hermione drew her wand as she made her way to the patch of grass. An injured Pokemon could be more likely to attack out of desperation.

She carefully pushed the tall grass aside. In the middle of the patch lay a ball of gray fur with several scratch marks visible on its back.

 _Poor thing,_ she thought. _But don't worry. I'm here for you now._

She tossed the Heal Ball at it.

It barely shook at all before it went quiet.

"That was easy enough."

* * *

"Keep at it, Arrow! Don't let up for a second!"

 _Emol!_

Arrow fired another Thunder Shock at the Swellow and connected.

"Good job!"

Stephanie wanted Arrow to keep his distance. She could not sense how strong the Swellow was, so she felt attacking directly was too much of a risk. She was more than content to simply chase it into exhaustion.

Suddenly the Swellow landed on the ground facing her.

 _It knows it can't escape. It wants to make a stand. I think we've almost got it._

"Well, now might be a good time," she said. "Arrow, use Spark!"

 _Emolga!_

Arrow surrounded himself in a ball of blue electricity and charged at the Swellow.

Surprisingly, it allowed Arrow to strike it. It was hurt, but still standing. Then the Swellow started emitting electricity.

Mirror Move.

 _Oh, that's not good!_

"Arrow, get out of there!"

Too late. The Swellow struck Arrow hard and knocked him back near Stephanie.

 _E…mol…ga!_

Arrow briefly tried to get up, only to collapse again.

Stephanie recalled him.

"You did a good job," she said. "You've earned a rest."

 _Now what?_

She stared down the Swellow for a few seconds. It stayed in its spot.

 _Might as well try it now._

She threw a Great Ball at it. A normal Poke Ball probably would not be enough.

The Great Ball absorbed its target. It landed on the ground and began to shake.

 _Come on!_

The shaking ceased.

Stephanie let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. I don't know what I would have done if it broke out."

She picked up the Great Ball that now held her newest capture.

"Let's see if Hermione found anything."

* * *

"How'd it go?" Hermione asked.

Stephanie gave her a thumbs-up sign.

"Got it," she said. "It took down Arrow, but he did enough. How about you?"

"I was right," Hermione said. "There was a Pokemon in there. I'll show you when we get back to hotel."

"I think it's safe to call our girls' day out a success," Stephanie said.

"I think so, too," Hermione replied. "I'm surprised you went after the Swellow. You already have a Normal-type and a Flying-type in your team."

"Oh, I don't plan on hanging on to it," Stephanie said.

Hermione looked confused.

"Then, why catch it?"

"I didn't catch it for me, but I know someone who would _love_ to have it."

* * *

"I think he likes you," Ron said teasingly to Harry.

"The feeling's not mutual right now," Harry replied in annoyance.

They had not gotten far on Route 115's beach before the first Pokemon appeared. A group of small blue birds with fluffy wings – Marcus had called them "Swablu" - flew above them. One of them decided Harry's head would make an ideal nesting spot and landed there.

It would not budge no matter what Harry tried to do to shake it off.

"I think you've found your Pokemon," Marcus said. "Or more like your Pokemon found you."

Marcus tossed an Ultra Ball over to Harry.

"You might as well catch it," he said. "Shouldn't be too hard. The Ultra Ball will activate as soon as it makes contact."

Harry hesitated for a moment, and then gently tossed the Ultra Ball above his head. He felt the weight come off, and watched the Ultra Ball fall to his feet. It shook only a few times before the red light in the center went off.

"Looks like it really did like you," Marcus said. "It barely put up a fight."

"That was almost too easy," said Harry.

"Hoping your first capture would be something more exciting?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, it really almost feels like I didn't earn it."

"Well, after everything we've had to deal with, I'd say we were overdue for a break like this. And probably a few more."

"Probably. So, what now?"

"We've still got plenty of time, and our Pokemon are all at full strength," Marcus said. "We might as well get some training in. The sooner you guys get a hang of that, the better."

Harry nodded.

"Sounds good. Let's see what Swablu has to offer."

"It had a strong aura. That's usually a good sign. Here."

Marcus handed his Pokedex to Harry.

"You can see a list of moves Swablu has been known to use. We can't get you, Ron and Hermione registered since you don't exist here. So you'll need to battle to know for sure what moves it has."

Harry looked over it.

"This might take some time to memorize," he said.

"You should get started now," Marcus said in a more serious tone. "Because it looks like we might have company."

"What do you…" Harry began, but a piercing screech cut him off.

"Aaaaah!" he groaned and covered his ears. It did little to help.

Suddenly the shrieking stopped and Harry felt his head jerked backward. Something was pulling on his hair. He took a reflexive swipe behind him, but came up empty.

"What was…"

He did not need to finish his question, as the culprit reappeared for all three of them to see.

"A Misdreavus," Marcus said. "It's a Ghost-type."

"It's annoying," said Harry.

"I won't argue that. You guys want to take it? Get some practice in?"

"Just the two of us?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. Dark-types resist Ghost attacks, and Swablu's part Normal-type, it's completely immune."

"Let's do that," Harry said as he released his newly captured Swablu.

"Okay, go for it, Mia!"

Harry glanced over Swablu's learnset.

 _Let's try out something simple first._

"Use Disarming voice!"

Swablu took flight and shot a stream of purple, heart-shaped energy at the Misdreavus.

The Misdreavus let out a cry of pain.

"My turn," said Ron. "Mia, Dark Pulse!"

Mia cawed and carried out Ron's order. The Misdreavus cried out again as the Dark Pulse hit.

Then it vanished.

A few seconds passed. The Misdreavus did not return.

"Is…that it?" Harry felt disappointed.

"Looks like it," said Marcus. "Gone after just two hits. I think your Pokemon were probably too much for it."

" _Mis!"_

Several blue light beams struck Mia from behind. Mia, however, did not give it any notice.

The Misdreavus reappeared in the air above them, laughing as it flew around in circles.

"Back for more?" Harry was a lot more excited now.

"It tried to use Psywave," said Marcus. "Won't do it much good, though."

"Swablu," Harry began, and then paused.

 _Let's go for something big this time._

"Dragon Rush!"

Swablu chirped and surrounded itself in a dark blue aura. It charged upward at the Misdreavus at high speed, and landed the hit.

" _Miiiiiiissss!"_

 _I've got it now!_

"Disarming Voice again!" Harry shouted. He was seizing control of the battle now.

Swablu's attack connected again, and the Misdreavus spiraled down toward the ground.

"Marcus!" Harry called.

He did not have to say anything else as he caught a Great Ball thrown his way. He wasted no time in throwing at the Misdreavus.

Unlike Sawblu, Misdreavus was not so willing to give in. The Great Ball shook violently for over a minute, but it eventually surrendered.

"That was exhilarating," Harry said as he picked up the ball.

"Satisfied now?" Ron asked.

"Definitely."

* * *

Stephanie was just starting to doze off in the Pokemon Center when her Xtransceiver went off.

"Alright," she said after looking at it. "It's her."

"It's about time," Hermione said. "I was starting to wonder if she would ever call you back."

Hermione peeked over Stephanie's shoulder to see an image of a red-haired girl pop up on the screen.

 _She'd fit in well with Ron's family._

"Hey, Chloe," Stephanie said to the girl. "How's Alola treating you?"

"It's been…" the red-haired girl paused for a second. "Rough is probably a good way to put it."

"Rough?" Stephanie asked, surprise evident in her face. "For you, really?"

"Yeah, the Totem battles here are insane."

"Totem battles? What do you mean?"

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know," Chloe said. "Alola doesn't have gyms. Instead I have to battle against Totem Pokemon. Those are basically bigger and stronger versions of Pokemon from the area. They also know moves to counter type disadvantages; and if that weren't enough, they can call on wild Pokemon to help them out. It's a pain."

"I don't know if I believe you," Stephanie said.

"Why not? Why would I make that up?"

"So the rest of us mortals don't get jealous."

Chloe groaned.

"Will you _please_ knock it off?" She said. "It's way beyond stale by now!"

"Don't get mad at me," Stephanie said in a playful tone. "It's your fault for being better than all of us."

"Excuse me," Hermione cut in. "But what are you talking about?"

"Oh, what's this? You made a friend and didn't bother to introduce her first?"

"Uh, sorry."

Stephanie removed the Xtransceiver from her wrist and held it at an angle where Chloe could see both of them.

"Chloe, this is Hermione," she said.

"Hermione? Pretty name, I like it." Chloe said. "I'm Chloe Fox. Stephanie and I know each other from trainer school."

"We all chased after Chloe," Stephanie said. "She graduated at the top of our class in everything. She's a lot like you that way."

"You graduated third, Steph. You should give yourself a little credit every now and then."

Chloe turned her attention back to Hermione.

"Nice to meet you. So, tell me about yourself. Stephanie's only been in Hoenn for a couple of weeks, so you couldn't have known each other very long. She usually takes a while to connect with someone. You must have made a strong first impression."

 _Strong first impression, right._

Hermione hesitated for a second.

"Y-yeah. You could say that."

"Something wrong?" Chloe asked.

"I ran into her boyfriend right before I met her," Stephanie cut in. "That may have given her the wrong idea."

"Stephanie!" Hermione nearly shouted. They would have to discuss the matter eventually, but now hardly seemed like an appropriate time.

"Oh, really?" Chloe suddenly sounded very interested.

"Tell me, Hermione," She began. "When you saw them together, what was Stephanie doing?"

Hermione was surprised. She wasn't expecting the conversation to go this way.

"Well, they were talking when I first saw them," she said. "Before that, I don't…"

"You've got nothing to worry about," Chloe said. "If she really were interested in your boyfriend at all, you would know. You see…"

"Th-that's enough out of you!" Stephanie said loudly, her cycling through different shades of red.

Hermione chuckled.

"I think I can find that out for myself," she said. "Right now, though, it might be a good time for Stephanie to show you why she called in the first place."

"Oh, right!"

Hermione took hold of the Xtransceiver as Stephanie fumbled around in her backpack before pulling out the Great Ball.

"I've got a big surprise for you, Chloe," she said. "Wait until you see this."

She released the Swellow.

Chloe stared at it. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened, and then…

"OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!" she squealed.

"Excited, are we?' Hermione asked.

"How'd you catch it? Actually, never mind, I don't care about that. What do you want for it?"

"You catch on quickly," Stephanie said. "I haven't really thought about what I want."

"You have plenty of options here. Alola is home to all sorts of unique Pokemon."

"Tell you want," said Stephanie. "Just trade me a Pokemon I can't find here in Hoenn. Whatever you think is an equal trade."

"Will do. I'll take care of it as soon as I can."

"There's no need to rush. Swellow's not going anywhere."

"I know, I know, but I don't want to wait too long. Plus, it could help me with my next trial."

"Alright, do what you want. Good luck."

Stephanie hung up and recalled the Swellow back into its Great Ball.

"She really liked that Swellow a lot," Hermione said.

"Yeah, Chloe will take just about anything that can fly. So, are you going to show me your catch?"

"I think I'll wait for the others to get back. I'd like to do it at the same time as Harry and Ron."

"That's fine. I don't mind being kept in suspense a little while longer."

* * *

Six chapters now in the books! Hopefully you liked it. I'm going to try to get Chapter 7 out either by the end of the month or early in March, and I have something special planned for it, so stay tuned.

Harry and Hermione now have their own Pokemon. What Pokemon did Hermione catch? Check back next time to find out.

No captive Death Eaters in this chapter, but we'll see them again soon enough.

Until next time, see ya!


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